Sibelius Violin Concerto

There’s a joke among classical musicians that the only parts of a
piece that matter are the beginning, the end, and one place in
the middle.  I don’t think its something that anyone really
believes in, but the value of the beginning of a piece in setting
the scene cannot be ignored, and the absolutely stunning opening
of the Sibelius violin concerto is no exception.  A soft
carpet of violins slowly oscillating between two notes sets up
the entrance of the violinist, who over the course of the
concerto will do just about everything a violin is capable of
doing, all in a concerto of both eye-popping difficulty, but also
heartwarming AND heartbreaking warmth, passion and character.
There is often what is described as the “Big 5” of violin
concerti, which includes the concerti of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven,
Brahms, Mendelssohn. The Sibelius violin concerto is the only
20th century violin concerto that has found its way into the Big
5 and there’s a reason for it.  All of those concerti
synthesized the need for virtuosity with the imperative of
writing truly great music.  But to me, and this might be a
controversial opinion, no one did it quite like Sibelius.
 We’ll hear all about the concerto, the circumstances that
created its disastrous opening, and ask the question of what
makes Sibelius such a distinctive composer, someone who sounds
like no one else on earth.